1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in media display, and more particularly to a cap or hat having a powered rotating placard for displaying printed or graphic information. The rotation of the placard includes a DC motor powered by photovoltaic material affixed to the hat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is recognized in the advertising industry today, that a moving advertisement will attract much more attention than a stationary advertisement. The ability of a moving advertisement to attract attention as opposed to a stationary display is evidenced by the fact that many communities have outlawed all moving, rotating, or flashing advertisements along their city streets. Moving advertisements are so eye catching that drivers were being distracted from driving, and having accidents while looking at the moving advertisements along the road, a situation which is not seen to be a problem with stationary signs.
Some of the moving displays which have been used in the past have included banners towed by airplanes, rotating billboards, and electrical computerized signs displaying moving figures or printed information. Novelty items have also become a source of product advertisement, and are often merely given away as free promotional items as part of a larger advertising theme. The extent to which some novelty items are successful at promoting the advertising theme is, in part due to the uniqueness of the novelty item on which the add is displayed. This uniqueness is generally the reason the consumer noticed the item in the first place, and then remembered the product on which it was displayed. Therefore a company looking for a novel way to display information would ideally choose one that was unique yet relatively inexpensive, one in which the information was highly noticeable, and one which was acceptable to the public. One way to expose media to the public would be to display a moving placard on a wearable item, such as a hat, which is the invention of this disclosure. Caps, particulary sports oriented caps are extremely popular today, and most already have some form of stationary information thereon.
A past art patent search was conduced to examine novelty hats having moving parts suitable for display of printed advertisements or other information. The following are considered relevant to my invention:
Dane was granted U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,280, on May 6, 1986, for a "Novelty Advertising Cap". Dane's device consists of a baseball-type cap having a miniature transparent mug and spigot adapted to circulate a fluid from the spigot to the mug. The fluid is contained in a closed circulating system to prevent spillage. This device appears to limit the range of products which it is suited to advertise, being more oriented towards advertisement of alcoholic beverages.
On May 19, 1987, Daniel was issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,274, for a "Self Illumination Patch Assembly". This device is a cap onto which is mounted a lighted sign. While this device is capable of displaying a wide range of printed advertisements, the display is still stationary. The only movement of the advertisement is provided by the wearer himself.
Patterson was granted U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,667, on Oct. 18, 1988, for a "Flip Bill Cap". Patterson's device is a wearable cap having a flip-up bill on which is displayed various indicia. Although the bill displaying the advertisement does move, the movement is not continuous. The manual or battery power supplying the movement is designed to only move the bill once, to raise or to lower it. A continuously moving bill on a hat would be quite distracting to the wearer, who would therefore probably not wear it for long. Since this type of advertisement display is most effective when worn by a person, the Patterson cap would not be effective as a constantly moving advertisement display.
A U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,815 was issued on July 21, 1987 to G. B. Hirsch for a "Solar Powered Headwear Fan". The Hirsch device includes the use of photovoltaic material affixed to the exterior surface of a hat to power a cooling fan positioned under the bill of the hat. The fan is aimed toward the face of the wearer.
A U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,857 was issued Nov. 12, 1985 to A. A. Galvin for a "Hot Weather Hat". The Galvin device includes the use of photovoltaic material attached to the exterior surface of a hat, with the power from the solar cells being used to operate a Peltier-effect thermoelectric device placed to cool the wearer's head.